Conversation With a Purpose

I found the exercise of taking turns to lead the discussion on the letters to be most helpful in class this week. I can sometimes lead a student to express their experience with the project, but I don't always have a very mindful or well rounded response, for the student to take with them. I have caught myself a few times in dialogs with a student with a lack of precise direction or focus, and I end up saying "why don't you try this or try that"... and they end up looking unconvinced, and I know I am not hitting my mark. I was very encouraged by Aileen's talk after the letter critique about practice, and that conversation with a purpose takes practice. Being able to use the language of art to talk about art......being able to draw connections to current artists or movements, again, something I feel I need to practice, and something I hope that develops and becomes enriched as time goes on.

Always be on the side of the learner —Herb Kohl

I also appreciated the emphasis on deliberate speaking, and the art of listening, because the wrong words at the wrong time can discourage a talent or personality that is just starting to discover possibilities.

It was interesting to me what became of our conversation about creating the book covers before understanding the rest of the project. Because I hadn't finished last week, I had to redo my paper for my cover. I did so, after the introduction of the project, and I found myself making very different choices in paper, pattern and color, as well as technique with the wax and paint.

In relation to our new project, I thought a lot about ruins this week, both man-made and natural.

My fiance and I have hiked all over Westchester and we keep stumbling upon these areas that might have been old dumping grounds in the woods. We think this because there is no other explanation for coming across abandoned cars, (that date back to the 50s), as well as bizarre appliances and household items like rusted interiors of washers and broken toilets, etc. These objects and the contrast to their organic environment give off such an uneasy vibe of forgotten civilizations; and also because you have to walk far enough to find them. I was very caught up in it the first time I saw it, the cars specifically, because they were so old. I thought that there might be a lesson plan in it, but that the nature of the experience was particular to MY environment. We have taken some found objects from these sites, and call me fantastical, but I walked away with the sensation of stealing treasure from an ancient site whose spirit might forbid the removal of its possessions. Needless to say, a ruined civilization stumbled upon in the woods is extremely evocative, and yet, I haven't designed the lesson plan! But I wonder if it can be fodder for our next project. The images above are from a path that I hike once a week. It surrounds a lake. I always take one direction. Last week, I went the other direction only to discover that many of the trees on the west side of the lake had fallen and some had been overturned in some recent storm... which made me think about visual imagery for a disturbed or ruined natural environment.........